Have you fished a private pond in the last year?

[Chad]

Apparently 25% of us fish private waters?

Have you fished a private pond in the last 12 months? If so, what was the quality of the fishery?

I have fished three private ponds in the last year - 2 within Omaha and 1 farm pond. All three had the same problem - an over abundance of stunted gills, but a few NICE bass. I never had the patience to wait for the bass, so I just went after little gills. But my father-in-law landed a few good ones.

[burrodebo]

I've fished at least three. Two were outstanding and one had the stunted gill problem.

Anyone know how many 10-15 inch LMB need to go in per acre to start making a dent in all the stunted gills? How much does it cost to buy these bass?

[Catfishsteve]

Yes, several.

[Mako]

Nope...I must be in the majority. If anybody needs somebody to fish one, let me know.

[Brian]

Viewing the private pond poll, it looks like a common trait is the "stunted bluegill" population.


Assuming you owned said pond...

Would it be a good option to introduce one male northern pike? Or a post-spawn female...either would do the job.




- B

[Shorty]

I have been working on a stunted bass problem at my favorite farm pond for the last 4 years. Unfortunatley this will be the last spring I help with managing it, it's up for sale this spring.

Most of the ponds I hear about typically have a stunted LMB problem rather than a stunted BG problem. Those who like to catch big LMB love ponds with stunted BG populations. All of those stunted BG help keep the recruitment of young of the year (YOY) LMB on the low side. Adding cover such as x-mas trees or cedar tree helps with YOY survival by giving them a place to hide.

[Fish Recycler]

I fish a very well balanced private "pond" near Stuart, Iowa. At 18 acres, it might be more of a "lake."

In recent years, LMB size has decreased a little but abundance is excellent.

Bluegill size is very good, most are in the 8" - 9" range.

I've fished it all my life, many of my best memories are there - great place.

[Fish Recycler]

Brian - regarding pike - I put 7 pike (one died) that were about 18" - 24" at time of introduction into a springfed Iowa pond of 4 acres about 14 years ago to control a runaway bluegill population. They did grow to very large size, or at least one did, as someone later caught him at 30" +

The pike did eat the bluegills, but the damage was really felt in the crappie population. Pike are voracious, and apparently crappie are easier targets, or they were in this pond.

Bluegills showed some improvement, but crappies became nearly nonexistant.

Largemouth are a great pond predator. Flatheads are another predator, but they're also awfully aggressive and efficient.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Those who like to catch big LMB love ponds with stunted BG populations. All of those stunted BG help keep the recruitment of young of the year (YOY) LMB on the low side.

Shorty (and others),

Are there situation where this might not be true?

For example, a bluegill population explodes because bass predation is reduced due to turbidity. Would you still expect some bass to prey effectively and grow big or is it more likely that all bass suffer, many die, and the rest are scrawny?

[Shorty]

Are there situation where this might not be true?

There could be. The lack of appropraite sized BG for young LMB means that they are competing with the BG for invertabrates.

For example, a bluegill population explodes because bass predation is reduced due to turbidity. Would you still expect some bass to prey effectively and grow big or is it more likely that all bass suffer, many die, and the rest are scrawny?

Turbidity shouldn't have a very significant effect on predation by LMB, LMB that are blind still survive and grow in wild. The lateral line is a great eyesite compensator in predation. I would say that a BG stunted pond likely has a significant number of LMB over 18" that are very hard to catch. Basically the fall asleep at night with their mouth open and wake up with a full belly. Now if time goes on and those big LMB die of old age, there could be a problem looming due to the lack of new recruitement.

Are you seeing or catching some scrawny bass under 15" long?

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Are you seeing or catching some scrawny bass under 15" long?

I've only fished it once through the ice. Owner says all he catches are the stunted gills. Not sure how he is fishing though. We should learn more when spring gets here.

Here is what had me thinking that turbidity would reduce the effectiveness of predation by the LMB on the bluegill (from Nebraska Pond Management).

While stocking predators [Largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, large catfish, and other predators] can be a way to control carp, bullheads, and green sunfish, they have to be able to see these fish in order to eat them. In some cases, the unwanted fish may keep the water so stirred up that sight feeding predators can’t detect their prey effectively. Turbid ponds are usually the best candidates for draining, excavating, and restocking. If that’s not possible, you can try various techniques to clear muddy water, as discussed on page 59, or possibly stock adult flathead catfish, a very effective predator even in turbid water.

[H2only]

the farm pond I fish has HUGE bluegills and a good amount of 3-5 pound bass, but a massive amount of 1-3 pound bass as well.

[Shorty]

Trust me, LMB can still be very good predators even in turbid waters. The lateral line is effective at dectecting prey as far as 25 ft away which is farther than visibilty of most of the waters around here. Sometimes having an overbundance of channel catfish or carp can keep the bottom stirred up quite a bit an lead to turbidity. Any idea on how many channel catfish have been stocked over the years?

I would check with Blasser about doing an electroshocking survey, keep in mind they probably won't have time until June to actually do it. The G & P electroshocking boat is pretty busy during the spring.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by Chad

Apparently 25% of us fish private waters?

Sheesh...so far, apparently 25% of us DON'T fish private waters...

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Shorty

Trust me, LMB can still be very good predators even in turbid waters. The lateral line is effective at dectecting prey as far as 25 ft away which is farther than visibilty of most of the waters around here. Sometimes having an overbundance of channel catfish or carp can keep the bottom stirred up quite a bit an lead to turbidity. Any idea on how many channel catfish have been stocked over the years?

I would check with Blasser about doing an electroshocking survey, keep in mind they probably won't have time until June to actually do it. The G & P electroshocking boat is pretty busy during the spring.

Thanks Shorty!

[Chad]

From Daryl...

...Stunted bluegills? That is probably the most common pond management problem, but let me say this. First of all, are the bluegills really stunted? Second of all, why are the stunted? And third of all, depending on management objectives maybe you want stunted bluegills? So you can see the "right answer" to that question, well, "it depends". Giving the best answer may require more information which may necessitate some sampling, age & growth determination, habitat evaluation, etc. Now having said all of that I will say this, if you have stunted bluegills in a pond, assuming water quality and habitat is not a problem, that occurs because you do not have enough largemouth bass--largemouth bass, not pike, not flathead catfish, not wipers, LARGEMOUTH BASS. The solution to that problem requires an understanding of why there are not enough largemouth bass--overharvest? water quality or habitat deficiencies? other?

Once the bluegills or other panfish/preyfish/rough fish get out of "balance", there may be a lot of things to try to remedy the situation, but ultimately the easiest, surest way may be to eliminate all the "stunted" bluegills. Of course that means eliminating all the fish and starting over.

My $0.02-worth.

Daryl Bauer
Lakes and Reservoirs Program Manager
Nebraska Game & Parks Commission
daryl.bauer@ngpc.ne.gov

[Tone2129]

Originally Posted by H2only

the farm pond I fish has HUGE bluegills and a good amount of 3-5 pound bass, but a massive amount of 1-3 pound bass as well.

thats my problem...well not really problem

[BPbowhunter]

I only fished one private pond, but I fished it probably 4 or 5 times. One of the problems I found with it was that there was so many bass that they were stunting. You could catch easily 50 bass in an evening, with only one or two fish over about 15". But if you did hook into a big one, it was generally a pig.

[Catfishin 4 Life]

When i was younger i fished farm ponds all the time, probably what got me into fishing now. When im back in Indiana i still get to fish those ponds but no luck yet finding anyone here to let me fish their pond. I think more people should be open to letting families expecially with kids fish farm ponds. I think it helps a kid enjoy fishing more. But on the other hand, i completly understand why farm pond owners don't allow fishing on their ponds.

[jlehn]

my problem is an overabundance of white perch. However, the pond must be in some type of balance because the perch are on the large size. Some master angler size. The 17 to 18 inch largemouth are rather plentiful and a few of the bass make it to 5 to 6 pounds.